What Do You Think?

Illegals Convicted Of Nonviolent Crimes Should Be Deported

August 28, 2007

The question posed by the Daily Press Editorial Board in the latest in our "What do you think?" series seemed straightforward: What do you think should happen to illegal immigrants convicted of crimes - should they serve their time or be deported immediately?

But the responses, in tone and volume, suggest that it directed readers' attention to the larger issue of illegal immigration. And it opened the gates to the often-harsh, even hateful rhetoric surrounding the debate on that issue.

The failure of Congress to address the estimated 12 million undocumented residents already here and the federal government's failure to enforce the law have fueled widespread public anger. Unfortunately, but predictably, that anger has been pushed across the borders of bigotry by people more interested in votes and ratings than in solutions.

The issue has been front and center locally with two recent convictions of undocumented immigrants for incidents involving drunken driving - one for aggravated involuntary manslaughter after a collision killed two Virginia Beach teens, and one for driving under the influence and without a license in an incident in which an illegal immigrant ran into a state trooper's car in Gloucester.

The half-dozen mailed and e-mailed responses received were surprisingly muted and divided on the original issue (they are printed below). Several skipped straight to the larger issue: the federal government's failure to tackle the problem of illegal immigration. Until that happens, readers posited, there is nothing localities can do.

Online, where the conversation takes on a freer tone, more than 50 people weighed in (their comments are at dailypress.com/opinion). Many suggested sweeping penalties, such as deporting all illegal immigrants, and several recommended fining and imprisoning the employers of illegals.

As to the original question, two factors must be considered: the costs of incarceration and the potential danger to society. A logical solution is a two-tiered one. For nonviolent criminals and those convicted of (or charged with) misdemeanors, immediate deportation is the answer. That would have removed Alfredo Ramos, the driver in the Virginia Beach case, after his conviction last year of public drunkenness.

Those convicted of violent crimes against people should serve their sentences and then be deported. That makes sure they're locked away for what the law deems an appropriate period - and then removed from American society.

While they're in jail, the feds should pay the tab. Congress should increase funding for the program that reimburses states and localities for the cost of locking up illegals.

Of course, if the federal government would do its job, this topic would be moot.